Method for fabrication of microwells for controlled formation of 3-dimensional multicellular-shapes

Abstract

Using 3D printing, a microwell is formed by providing a plurality of masks, each mask representing a cross-section of a layer of the concave structure. Progressive movement of a projection plane exposes a pre-polymer solution to polymerizing radiation modulated by the masks to define the layers of the microwell, where each layer is exposed for a non-equal exposure period as determined by a non-linear factor. In a preferred embodiment, a first portion of the masks are base layer masks, which are exposed for a longer period than subsequent exposure periods. Shapes of the microwells, which may include circular, square, annular, or other geometric shapes, and their depths, are selected to promote aggregation behavior in the target cells, which may include tumor cells and stem cells.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.